Amazon's next big business: Bodegas?

When you hear the term "convenience store," you might think of names like 7-11, Walgreens, CVS...and, perhaps someday, Amazon?

Hoping to grow its grocery sales, the Seattle retailer is looking into opening its own small bodegas to sell produce, milk, meat and other perishables, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plans.

The report comes two months after tech site GeekWire said Seattle-based Amazon is building a drive-up grocery store in its hometown.

Expanding into physical grocery locations could be a way for Amazon to make buying with the company a more regular habit and help it keep growing its grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh. Yet, while Amazon successfully disrupted the retail world by offering speedy shipments right to people's doors, convenience store and grocery pickup concepts already exist, so Amazon would have lots of competition.

For instance, Walmart already has been adding grocery pickups. Since it operates a base of about 4,600 US stores, it would have a big advantage over Amazon, which would have to find, build and open new locations.

The Amazon convenience stores will play off the blueprints of no-frills discounters like Aldi and dollar stores, the Journal reported. These locations, though, may take a year or more to open, and the plans may be shelved entirely, the publication said.